Fake plates, false identities: How gang stole 6 luxury cars in border heist

Audacious international car theft ring has been exposed after police recovered a stolen Toyota Fortuner worth K175 million in neighbouring Zambia — part of a staggering haul of six vehicles swindled from two Lilongwe car rental firms.

The stolen fleet, valued at more than K1 billion in total, was snatched by four cunning South African suspects who posed as tourists from Uganda, eSwatini and Tanzania to avoid suspicion, police have revealed.

The gang struck on 12 July, hiring three Toyota Fortuners and a Toyota Prado from Avis Car Hire, plus two more Fortuners from Santguru Holidays Limited — before brazenly driving the vehicles straight over the border into Zambia fitted with fake Zambian number plates.

But their audacious plot began to unravel after sharp-eyed detectives from the Lilongwe Anti-Motor Vehicle Theft Unit and Central West Region Police teamed up with Zambian officers to trace the missing cars to the capital, Lusaka.

There, officers caught a Zambian woman red-handed in possession of one of the stolen Fortuners — registration CAD 2164 — which had originally borne Malawian plates BLK 5097 before being disguised.

Central West Region Police spokesperson Foster Benjamin revealed the woman had already confessed to handing the remaining five stolen vehicles to her Congolese accomplices to be sold on.

She has since been arrested and hauled to Lusaka Central Police, where she is being held for receiving stolen property.

Police say the shocking case has blown the lid on a well-organised international cartel spanning South Africa, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo — with investigations now ongoing to track down the remaining suspects.